The Jedi Warrior Bond --Last Warrior Path
by GM
Summary: Final chapter in JWB saga -- sequel to JWB The Last Hope


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THE JEDI WARRIOR BOND

THE LAST WARRIOR PATH

By

GM

_Obi-Wan Kenobi has an obligation to Luke Skywalker. What will it mean when he fulfills this duty?_

Sequel to JWB -- The Last Hope -- 

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The final, final chapter in the JWB series.

Everything else posted after this will be inserts -- filling in the blanks between here and the early years.

Rated -- PG for violence, angst, intensity

The Canon according to Lucas -- based on the universe provided in the movie Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. All characters copyrights and legal details belong to George Lucas -- the highest Master Jedi of all.

email: mfuff@crosswinds.net

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ORDER OF STORIES IN _JEDI WARRIOR BOND_ SERIES:

. . . every saga has a beginning . . .

Secrets

The Path of Bonding

Connecting

Sanctuary

The Heart of Existence

Edges of Darkness

The Sorcerer and the Apprentice

Shadow on the Warrior Path

Bridge Over Troubled Water

Always

The Last Hope

The End of the Warrior Path

* * *

Since young Luke had uttered the long forgotten, mystical name, the old man had been in an altered state of awareness. Buried senses and feelings surfaced. Old wounds, old victories swept through his memories with a flood of emotions he had not allowed himself to feel in decades.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi."

A different man. A different time. 

Like a magical, exotic incantation, the name evoked stirrings of Force, whisperings of Jedi honor and dormant instincts that now sizzled in his mind. As he paced next to the Jawa transport he tentatively reached out with the Force, familiarizing him with the sensation again, renewing the link to the past that he had abandoned -- forsaken -- for survival. 

Those many years ago he had told himself that bringing Luke, the son of Anakin, to Tattooine was clever. Darth Vader would never think to look here, his old slave home, for a boy he did not even know existed. And living close, nearby his brother and Luke, Kenobi slipped into a foreign persona, a hermit's life -- masking, watching, and waiting. He reminded himself that it was to act as guardian to the young Skywalker. In his heart he knew he was hiding. 

True, he had kept Anakin's original apprentice lightsabre for safe keeping, dreaming that one day the boy, or the girl, would come forward as Jedi. Qui-Gon's honored lightsabre had been kept as well, changed only with a blue power crystal, bright, blue, intense like his Master's gaze. Kenobi would rather lose an arm, or his life, than give up that cherished possession -- the only thing he had as a tangible memory of his beloved Master. Keeping the sabre was the foolish fantasy of an old man. He had believed in myths and fantasies and magic once, a long time ago. There were no more Jedi now. Why keep the lightsabre? Sentiment. No, he couldn't tread that path, he warned himself, shutting out the emotions that threatened to rise -- the old feelings and memories that haunted him every time he touched the lightsabre hilt, every time he thought of the man who once held this weapon. 

Even as he watched C3PO throw the Jawa bodies on a fire, even as the Force, familiar and quenching, flowed through his system and tingled long dormant feelings, he could not bring himself to believe it was time to move forward again. Yet could he deny the force leading him to this moment? Even down to the eerie return to his life of the droids C3PO and R2-D2? Not even when he felt the deaths of his brother and sister-in-law, Owen and Beru, did he want to believe. The Force, however, as usual, was undeniable. He had forsaken it years before, now it was calling him forward again. It had guided him once to walk the Warrior Path, but now there were no more warriors left.

Numbly he recalled his first lesson in understanding how the Force could guide a life. Two lives. Drawn together by the unmistakable power of the Force, he and Qui-Gon had forged their Warrior Bond. It had been beyond incredible, and over the years it had proven to be more mystical and wonderful than they ever imagined. There had been some rough spots. At the end, after Anakin's arrival, there had been the breech before -- before Qui-Gon's death. Kenobi had defended his Master even when Qui-Gon defended Anakin as the Chosen One, had given his word to train the boy as a final vow to Qui-Gon's dying breath.

In time, however, the Force called back it's own -- the most valiant -- to dwell on the other side. Qui-Gon was the first. When he died, the Bond was all but severed. Then the clone wars, the betrayal of Anakin, the decimation of the Jedi Order, the end of the Republic.

It seemed egotistical in the extreme, but over the years he had convinced himself that the entire tragic chain of events had been his fault. If he had been a little quicker on Naboo, he could have saved his Master from death at the hands of Darth Maul. Then Qui-Gon would have been the teacher and Master of Anakin. Then perhaps Anakin would have never turned to the Dark Side and slaughtered the Jedi, helping the Empire take over the Republic.

One act -- one failure -- had destroyed everything.

The ripple of Dark doubt diminished the new energy he was feeling. Instinctively he pushed the Dark away, allowing the Force to instruct him and flow within. Yes, Luke was coming back. Owen and Beru murdered. More to add to his body count -- his own brother . . . . 

The Force wavered, then reasserted itself. Decades he had hidden away, waiting, wondering what would happen with Luke and Leia. Now it was time to move onto the Warrior Path and the old doubts, the unworthy whisperings reminded that he was not a warrior anymore. But was he the expectation of the future? Was it his time to pass the lightsabre on, literally, to a new generation?

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"Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope."

When Princess Leia said the words they tingled in his heart. 

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"You are the last hope of the future, my son."

Never understanding the phrase, still he never forgot it. He never forgot anything his Master said; the way he looked, the sound of his mellow, gentle voice. The memories lived with him everyday. They were all he had left. Until now.

If he was the only hope then the galaxy was in trouble, he sighed, some of the old, sharp sarcasm surfacing along with these other ancient feelings. He was an old man now, considered a crazy hermit in these dry hills. Pulling his hood over his head he closed his eyes, allowing the familiar motion to float him back to another time and place.

The Force built inside, restructuring the mind and feelings, transforming him from the old hermit to the former Jedi. A former hero of the clone wars. A long-ago Padawan learner who lived and died according to the Code, according to the words of the wisest and bravest Master in the Order. And once, so many years before, he had walked the Warrior Path with that great Master, linked -- joined -- in the incredible shared armor of the Warrior Bond.

When Luke returned more than the young man's resolve had changed. The Force had worked on both of them. It was time to go forward and seize their Fates. Destiny called them -- the Force called them -- and they would meet the challenge.

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Leading him, as it once did, the Force assured Kenobi it was his duty to release the force field on the Millennium Falcon. It was his responsibility to meet the Darkness again. The Force guided him to free the rebel ship so Luke could escape and fulfill his destiny. The Force led Kenobi to another path, ever closer to the Darkness.

" . . . the circle is now complete . . . "

Without understanding completely, Obi-Wan knew Vader's words were true, but not exactly what the Dark Lord of the Sith meant.

As the battle began, the Force flowed through Kenobi, washing him with the cool, clear, purity of its power. The body was stiff and old but the Force was known and welcome and used the trained limbs to do it's bidding. Swinging, blocking, moving, turning -- a well-known dance he had engaged in before. A known opponent. More power, yes, more mighty, yes, but that could always lead to over confidence. As it had that fateful day on Naboo.

"If you strike me down I shall be more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

Where had that thought come from? Even as he questioned, he knew the answer through the Force. It was an old and comforting whisper in his heart that foretold of something magical and incredible awaiting him. 

The fight shifted as they moved in front of a large, clear barrier that looked out onto the hanger bay. A convergence of energy surged into his senses, momentarily confusing him. Vader, Luke, evil, innocent purity -- and something . . . . Familiar warmth he had not known for so long, since so far away . . . .

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'Obi-Wan.'

The tone, the name, the voice. Inside his mind and outside, too.

Kenobi blinked and darted a quick glance to the left. There in the hangar was the glowing image he thought never to see again. It was almost as if he was back in the hanger at Naboo, fighting side by side with his Master, with his Warrior father. 

With a wave of his hand, Qui-Gon Jinn pushed the storm troopers away from the Millennium Falcon, closer to the lightsabre battle. Kenobi looked back at Vader, but his mind was filled with wonder, serenity and warmth. The radiant sense of the Warrior Bond was returned in full Force.

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'My Obi-Wan. Luke must take charge of his own destiny now.'

'Have I redeemed myself? Am I now worthy to join you my Master?'

The familiar affection and welcome was a soothing peace to his soul._ 'You have always been worthy. Your mission was not one of punishment, but one of honor. The Jedi, the Force had to continue. You were the Jedi who was strong enough, brave enough to be the patient Master, waiting for Luke to take his rightful place. The Force chose you for this. Only in your own mind were you unworthy, my son. Never to me.'_

The Force melted over him in a wave of virtuous intensity, flowing from him, touching Luke. Then it reached out to connect with Jinn and the Warrior Bond that had never been extinguished, just dormant. 

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'Come home, my Padawan. You will feel no pain. I am taking you.' Qui-Gon stood in the hangar, a hand reaching out to his former apprentice, to his fellow Jedi. _'Your walk on this Warrior Path is over. We now have new challenges to conquer, a slightly different path to travel. It is my honor and pleasure to travel with you there.'_

'Together?'

'Always.'

With a final glance at Luke, a final transference of Force to the young son of Skywalker, Obi-Wan kissed the hilt of his Master's lightsabre -- the weapon he had kept for years, in tribute, in honor. His energy, his Life Force, his being, blinked, pulled through the Force by his former Master. When Vader's blade struck, there was nothing left.

Watching the scene from the other side of the Force, from the warm embrace of his Master, Obi-Wan felt strange and wonderful all at the same time. He felt compassion for the sorrowful young Jedi he left behind, but there was such strength in Luke, he knew the boy would manage without him. Amazed, Obi-Wan realized he looked like a twenty-year old again. Qui-Gon had not changed either. They would forever be just as they had been on the last day they shared in life. The Bond was even more intense and melded on this side of the Force as it had been in that plane, as if the Warrior Bond **was **the Living Force.

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'Welcome home, my brave warrior.'

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THE END


End file.
